Three beautiful things from my week past:

1. A person carrying a Loony Toons umbrella gets off the escalator I’m getting on.

2. The jackhammering going on beneath my window at work ends for the afternoon.

3. The pitter patter of raindrops on the tree and against the railing and the air conditioner lull me to sleep.

How about you? What’s been beautiful in your world this week?

Three beautiful things from the past week:

1. Tomatoes from our garden, eaten by themselves, on tacos, on caprese sandwiches, on salads, and on vBLTs:

2. Volleyball started up again this week and even if I wasn’t playing fantastically, I was still playing.

3. Corey was acting a little rambunctious on Saturday and I remembered that we had a couple of ribbon toys that we’d tucked away when it became clear he was incapable of not swallowing string-like objects if left unattended. I pulled out a wand that has a six-foot-long, polar fleece tail and soon had all three cats chasing and jumping in pursuit of it (after which, it got put away again, because Corey totally chewed it in half in the 15 seconds I wasn’t paying attention while we played).

And, as a bonus, here’s this week’s bouquet, bought at the farmers market by my office:

How about you? What’s been beautiful in your world this week?

Three beautiful things from the past week:

1. Dinner with John and Nicole for the first time in a couple months.

2. An app I’ve been laboring over for a year at work is named by Apple new and noteworthy in its category.

3. Writing greetings means I get to break out my sticker collection, including, for the first time in 30 years, new scratch-and-sniff ones.

How about you? What’s been beautiful in your world this week?

Three beautiful things from the past week:

1. Because of the heat wave, the city generously has kept the pool open an extra few days after the scheduled close of the season. I make it for one final swim and find myself floating on my back in the gloaming, staring up at the first star of the night.

2. The National Book Festival was Saturday and I got to spend nine hours listening to authors read their books and share stories and generally feel all bookish. It’s one of my favorite celebrations of the year.

3. I arrived home with the final section of a book to read and picked it back up as Rudi was heating me up some dinner. When he came over to hand me my bowl, he found me weeping with a handful of pages left in the book on my lap. He put the bowl down and wordlessly left me alone to finish the sad, sad ending to the novel.

How about you? What’s been beautiful in your world this week?

Three beautiful things from the past week:

1. In the 10 days I’ve been away, sunset has slipped to before 8 p.m. without my realizing it, which means I arrive at the garden later than I should have. Our plot neighbors are out in the field, playing with their toddler and dog, and it’s clear to me as I quickly fling water on plants, that they are lingering so I’m not out there alone. I’m grateful.

2. There is no corn at the Tuesday lunchtime market, but one farmer does have bouquets of flowers. I buy a bunch to cheer up my desk:

3. The nail salon in the center of my parents’ town gives me what may have been my most relaxing pedicure ever. He has his doubts about the color I’ve chosen, but I assure him that as long as it’s bright, it’ll make me happy. It is exactly the color I’m hoping for, and later in the week, I paint my nails equally loud hues:

How about you? What’s been beautiful in your world this week?

I’m writing from Connecticut, where I’m spending a busy week at my parents’ house, working remotely and hanging out with my grandmother and the family pets while my folks are visiting my brother on the other side of the country.

Here are three beautiful things from my time here this week:

1. My folks have a hummingbird feeder and at least two species (one green and one black) who zoom around the house on a daily basis, drinking deeply from my mother’s flowers. It’s impressive how chatty they are and how curious.

2. What I thought were several ticks on the dog’s leg turn out to be small, round burrs. I’ve never been so glad to be wrong.

3. Coming north means that blueberries are still in season here. Gramma and I have been enjoying them as a daily afternoon snack.

How about you? What’s been beautiful in your world this week?